Chapter 140
Chapter 140
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 140
Chapter Title: The Immortal King's Stirring (4)
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Right after the Immortal King who had raided the conference hall departed.
"It's unnatural."
That was Viscount Audre's impression. He was a high-ranking official in the Azerion Empire's Intelligence Department and had accompanied the crown prince as his advisor at this continental summit.
"I have no idea how it infiltrated the grand temple, but that couldn't have been easy either. So why go through all that trouble, only to suddenly pull back on a whim?"
He was the type who believed every action in the world had a purpose.
"It's more likely it had some scheme in mind and slipped away after achieving it."
Even a baby's cry had its reasons, and even if it was the twisted logic of a madman, they always had their own rationale.
Yet the Immortal King's behavior this time felt unnatural even for a madman's antics.
"Of course, with the hero and the others there, it wouldn't have been easy. If the fight had dragged on, they might have driven it off somehow. Though the casualties would have been high, it was the grand temple after all."
If that had happened, it wouldn't have ended with just a dozen or so deaths.
The barrier set up in the back might have been breached, potentially wiping out the entire delegation—including himself—inside it.
From their perspective, it was a stroke of luck.
But...
Rustle— Rustle—
Viscount Audre pulled out documents listing the personal details of various attendees and reviewed them again.
They contained investigations conducted by the Imperial Intelligence Department right after securing the list of conference participants.
"Count Kaien Turkan from the Empire, the crown prince's right-hand man. Khanble and Payton from the Mercenaries' Guild, the Mercenary King and his right arm. From the Sharoti Kingdom..."
As he skimmed the details on the deceased again, he finally pieced together their common thread.
"Every single one of them had something shady in their background. Some survived the battle despite similar profiles, but at least none of the dead were innocents."
A coincidence?
...No, he didn't believe in coincidences.
Everything had a reasonable cause, and this incident was no exception.
The problem was he couldn't figure out what that cause was.
An Immortal King that selectively killed only the wicked? Was there any combination of words less fitting in the world?
"To harvest the negative power in the souls of the wicked? If so, wouldn't it be easier to kill everyone and sort through them afterward rather than sparing the others? Or maybe it was a step in some black magic ritual? Or..."
His mind filled with hypotheses and deductions, but no clear conclusion emerged.
That left Viscount Audre racking his brains alone for days.
Besides the common traits of the dead, the Immortal King's easy withdrawal was equally puzzling.
"...Am I too trapped in my preconceptions? Well, the Immortal King isn't like your average lunatic anyway."
He was a veteran investigator who had analyzed the motives of countless madmen, including black mages. But they were just human at the end of the day.
Not even worth comparing to the Immortal King.
Just as he was about to give up analyzing the incident internally, news from the Rohan Principality finally reached him.
Naturally, only one figure came to mind at that moment.
As the situation grew ever more tangled, he squeezed his eyes shut and murmured the name inwardly.
"...Immortal King, Hans."
The root of all this evil.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "What is the meaning of this sudden news?! The Rohan Principality has fallen?"
"It was precarious, but holding steady until now. For things to escalate this abruptly..."
"There must have been some warning signs. We could've gotten word ahead of time and..."
The conference hall buzzed with commotion.
Everyone was visibly flustered by the unexpected report.
Even the other races unfamiliar with the Ion Continent wore grave expressions upon hearing a nation had ultimately collapsed.
Clunk—
Amid the growing chaos, the doors to the conference hall swung open.
Representatives from the Rohan Principality, the Mage Tower, and the Church of the Main God entered together.
The noisy space fell silent in an instant as all eyes turned to them.
But Dennis and the others sat with stiff expressions, saying nothing. Instead, Cardinal Cordelia—her face equally grim—stepped forward.
As if understanding everyone's doubts, she cut straight to the point.
"To conclude: the principality hasn't fully fallen yet. But..."
The Rohan Principality bordered the Northern Mountains on three sides except the south. After the madness outbreak, the nation had poured everything into defending its borders.
The Church of the Main God had also actively supported them, deploying not just temple forces but reinforcements including paladins from headquarters.
"...While they were locked in fierce battle with the monsters, the defensive lines on three fronts collapsed all at once for unknown reasons. Around the same time, suicide bombings struck key facilities across the principality simultaneously."
The knights' headquarters in the capital, the Church of the Main God's temple, the Mage Tower Alliance's tower...
Even the royal castle where the prince resided came under attack by unidentified assailants.
The sudden raids devastated the temples, which had left minimal forces while aiding the borders. Critical gates—the core of the church's mobility—were destroyed.
The other targets fared no better.
"Even with depleted forces, destroying a Church of the Main God temple?"
"And that's not all, is it? How many places did they hit at once?"
"The timing suggests they tampered with the borders too. And that had church forces plus imperial reinforcements."
The delegations began murmuring in small groups again over the new details.
And quite naturally, their suspicions converged on one point.
"This is the Immortal King Hans's doing too, right?"
"No way...! The raid here was to divert our attention before striking?"
"His movements were odd for that, though..."
"But this happened anyway, didn't it? It was just mocking us!"
Pinning the blame on the Immortal King flowed naturally.
His infamous reputation made even initial skeptics eventually join the consensus.
And among those nodding solemnly as they listened...
Was Heinrich, the church's saint and the hero opposing the Immortal King.
But his inner thoughts differed greatly from his outward demeanor...
"No, what the hell is going on here?"
He panicked just like the rest, his casual remark returning as karmic retribution.
Frowning at the unforeseen crisis, he carefully reviewed all the information so far.
"It reeks of malice intent on destroying Rohan no matter what. Collapsing the defensive lines in one go while fighting the monster horde, then hitting the church and mage tower to block reinforcements."
No ordinary organization could pull that off, let alone in such a short time.
It would require years of preparation at minimum.
And Heinrich knew one group capable of such a feat.
"Oath of Reverse Heaven... So they're the ones who moved."
They'd been beaten down by him so often he'd dismissed them, but they were far from pushovers.
Above all, it explained everything—they were the culprits who opened the abyss and unleashed that 'madness.'
If they set their minds to it, toppling a nation was child's play.
"I haven't heard anything from Oldman about this. Is the compartmentalization the issue?"
Oldman, the Toolk Kingdom branch leader captured by executives based on Banshee Queen Olivia's intel.
She'd balked at interrogating him due to the unidentified soul seal on his heart, but that wouldn't stop Hans at the pinnacle of magic.
"It was a bit of a hassle since it was like a self-destruct code."
A restriction binding the soul to prevent info leaks, ignoring the subject's well-being.
According to "Forbidden Knowledge," it was advanced black magic beyond humans—requiring demon-level power.
"Still, to be thorough, I should squeeze him again in case I missed something."
The stakes were too high to gloss over.
Monsters fueled by madness were pouring through the broken lines even now, with no swift reinforcements since the temple gates and mage tower were gone.
There were rear defensive lines, but with the front—where the nation's full might was concentrated—breached, how long could they hold?
This wasn't mere civil unrest; it was an existential crisis for the nation.
"Cardinal Pirey at the Jerron Grand Temple in the Empire has stepped up personally. He's gathering the church's elites within the Empire and heading to the nearest temple to Rohan to rescue as many as possible."
Cardinal Cordelia's voice remained steady.
But no one missed the seething rage beneath her calm tone.
The continent had already suffered greatly, but imagining the refugees from a fallen nation made chests tighten.
The rest of the summit focused on responding to the Rohan crisis.
The Church of the Main God and Azerion Empire could provide quick aid, but the continental alliance couldn't stand idle.
As discussions heated up...
Heinrich watched silently, lost in thought.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Mulo, any new reports on the Rohan Principality?"
"Yes, Lord. The borders have fully collapsed, so they're holding at the secondary line, but it's insufficient against the monsters."
Heinz's efforts to build a global intelligence network had continued steadily.
Naturally, Brocoslak Clan vampires were deployed in Rohan, feeding Mulo real-time updates via that agent.
"Definitely talented. Only someone who's mastered blood magic like Mulo could manage this."
Empowered by "Purified Blood Essence," he could now communicate real-time with subordinates at will.
An essential skill for leading a continental-scale intel organization.
As Heinz watched Mulo approvingly, the report continued.
The makeshift secondary line was full of gaps, letting monsters slip through—better than nothing, but barely.
But the situation allowed no such leeway...
"The secondary line won't hold much longer. They're setting up a tertiary line ahead of the capital, but..."
Mulo trailed off, shaking his head silently.
No need to say more.
"Hmmm..."
Heinz closed his eyes, deep in thought.
Of course, he had no intention of leading the vampire clan to help Rohan just because it was in danger.
No reason or means to do so.
Even the Yuphershy Clan's blood gates for long-distance travel consumed vast time and resources—not yet time to expose them fully.
"Looks like that's the only option."
"Pardon? Do you have separate orders?"
"No. How's Theodor's assignment going?"
"Yes. Clan members are scattered worldwide, so it'll take time, but no major issues rallying them here."
The Kingdom of Talia at the continent's western edge.
Heinz 2nd had claimed it as territory, slowly expanding the vampire clan's influence.
Once prepared, he'd emerge fully into the world.
Next on the list...
"...It's about time Hans set up a proper base."
Keeping the undead army indefinitely in Hans's sub-dimensional space was inefficient.
To operate an army properly, they needed a stronghold—somewhere hard for continentals to access, sparsely populated, suiting their nature.
The west was Heinz 2nd's domain, center had the Empire and holy lands, east the republics, island-nations, and magocracies.
The southern deserts were remote but clashed often with the tribal confederation at the tip.
Only one option remained.
"A demon king's castle belongs in a place like that."
The harshest environment, rugged terrain barring casual intruders, teeming with savage monsters—the continent's greatest demonic realm.
A high-level field even novices couldn't approach.
The Northern Mountains.
The perfect spot.
"But hiding too deep would hide the undead army's might. Somewhere arduous yet reachable is ideal."
And conveniently, one such place existed.
Yes, for example...
"...The mountains north of the Rohan Principality would be perfect."
And naturally, that meant...
The existing residents there would have to switch affiliations—by force if necessary.
From 'madness'...
To 'death.'